This invention relates to hot melt adhesives which are used in industry in a wide variety of applications, and in particular to their packaging for shipment to the user and their utilization in the user's manufacturing operations.
In prior art hot melt adhesive packages, considerable secondary processing of the adhesive is required. Molten adhesive at the point of production is commonly poured onto a moving chilled belt, which rapidly solidifies in the form of a ribbon. The solid ribbon is then cut into sticks and typically packed into cartons of about 50 lb (25 kg) and shipped to the customer. Other shapes such as pillows, chicklets or pellets may also be formed for shipment to the customer. At the customer's facility, the solid pieces are transferred with a worm feed or directly by hand to a vat in which the adhesive is remelted, and therefrom dispensed for use. Since in some cases the contents of a single carton may be used up quickly, constant attention is needed to ensure that the vat is replenished. In some cases the vat may be open topped, thus putting the operator at risk of being burned by hot adhesive. The use of relatively small packages results in the consumption of large amounts of packaging material which has to be disposed of by the customer. Also, in facilities which use more than one type of adhesive, the presence of large numbers of small packages increases the possibility of error.